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| My children... and HIS children |
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When I worship God, particularly with the congregation on Sunday mornings, I absolutely love, I adore, being together with, surrounded by, my children. So much so that I’m really not sure how I’ll fare emotionally when they’ve grown and gone. It’s so comfortable praising God together. I can’t help thinking, even as I stand there wrapping my arms and my heart around my children, that at that moment God is also receiving us, wrapping his great arms and heart around us.
I have such a crazy amazing love for my children. I hold none of their faults or past sins against them. I love them to pieces no matter what silly stupid things they do! My attention to their needs is only limited by my physical capabilities! And you know, God loves his children in the very same way, only like a gazillion times better!!
3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
Consider how much God the Father loves us as his children! He painstakingly knit each us in the womb (Ps. 139:13), he has meticulously numbered each hair on our heads (Matt 10:30), he cares for all of our daily needs (Luke 12:24), he practically begs us not to fret but to cast our anxieties on him (Ps. 55:22, 1 Pet. 5:7), and most importantly, he sacrificed his only begotten Son so we could always be with him (John 3:16, 1 John 4:10), even while we continued to bungle around in our rebelliousness (Rom. 5:8)!!
How am I, how are any of us, so privileged to be the recipients of such a breathe taking love? Contemplating the “father’s love” I have for my own children gives me such a grand appreciation for the Almighty Father’s love for his children… yes, including me!!
Indeed God lavishes his love on us! Do we always feel "lavished upon"? If not, why wouldn't we? One of the main reasons is our tendency to hang onto shame and guilt. I need to put these aside, confessing sin quickly and forgiving myself, in order to remain in his presence. I'm sure this is what God wants for me!!! God drives no one from his presence because of their misdeeds, but many slink away on their own in shame, just as Adam/Eve did, depriving themselves of the great blessings the Father heartily desires to bestow on them. As our pastor put it this morning, “Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God!"
If my love for my children is so strong, how much more the Father’s love for me!!!
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Jen |
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January 27, 2008 at 1:34pm |
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Hey, Mike! This morning our pastor was talking about the Adam/Eve/Garden of Eden stuff and about how we need to not let shame keep us from being who God means for us to be, ie. confess your sins, know that you're forgiven, and get on with it! Good stuff. I love the use of the word lavished in that verse, don't you?! He doesn't just give us love, He lavishes it on us! Such extravagance and abundance!! :-) That's our God! |
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this is an awsome blog, and tribute to Children and parenthood! It is amazing how when we look at the relationship of ourselves and children and than think how God loves us even more than that,it makes us understand The true love of the Father of Fathers!
Thanks Mike. |
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| Love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my soul, my all!! |
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Mike, this is a message that God has being dealing with me about as well. The particular passage that ministered to me was in Ephesians 3:14-19. Thanks for the reminder to embrace God's love. 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
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| Yeah, sin definately separates us from Him...and it's true: once you have kids, you get a tiny glimpse of how much God loves us! That blows my mind. Thanks for the reminder. |
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Wow!! Yet again I am reminded to "forgive myself." Why is this so hard to do sometimes! I am just so thankful that God did not give up on me when I tried to give up on myself! What the enemy means for evil...the Lord uses for good. I truly believe that people fall sometimes because they just do not understand the love of The Lord towards us. I also believe that He allows us to scrounge out there at times so we will become miserable and unhappy in our hearts...which causes us, like the prodigal son, to think "What in the world am I doing out here living with, and like the pigs!"
Thanks!!
Cathy(Forgiven) |
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Jen, funny that you zeroed in on that word lavished! I too have been pondering that since I wronte this. Often I do not feel very lavished upon. But that is b/c my mind has been distracted from the Lord's words to me. If I trust him, take him at his word, keep his words near my heart, then I can't help but know that he's lavished his love on me! Thanks for the poignant comment!
EV, thanks for sharing your exhuberance!! Yes we are his kids, we have every reason to have a childlike faith and joy!!
Keith and Lara, my whole view of God changed when we had our first child. It was the first time I realized how deeply needy and helpless I am in the Father's arms! Thanks for sharing this parent's perspective!
Arlene, may the Lord bless you! I can identify w/those who are very self-critical. That isn't at all what God wants from me, he wants me (us) to "casts all my cares"!! If we only begin to grasp "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ", it will be a significant start towards self forgiveness! |
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| Forgiven (Cathy), see comment to Arlene! Lol -Nice to hear from you sis! |
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| Thanks Steve, thanks Doyle! Glad to see this spoke to you, and thanks for posting comments!!! (Steve, I feel stupid for asking, but what's that hymn? I have the tune in my head now!) |
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Pastor Tim,
Man, you always pull out the perfect Bible verse in response to what I write. Thanks, I love that!! "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ"....yep, those are pretty much the exact words I was searching for! |
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Rosie |
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January 28, 2008 at 1:46am |
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| Mike again what can i say ....Just if there was ever one who protrays Gods Love for His children as a Father it is you...Your children are truely blessed to have such a wonderful Loving Father showing them Gods Love.....(don't be so sad when they grow up because they will marry and have little ones for you to love and cherish and help bring up in Gods love) |
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| ahhhhhhh!!!!! scary thought Rosie!! ("they will marry and have little ones") |
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Glenn |
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January 28, 2008 at 9:42am |
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Great word Mike, just one question, can you define gazillion for me. I think that actually falls a little short of the mark ; )
I agree with Jen, just thinking about how God lavishes his love upon us, it is almost overwhelming to me. Makes me want to shout to the Lord!
peace |
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| Thanks Glenn! Gazillion is my best guess at infinite! hehe And yes, Jen's point was marvelous! (she inspired me to edit the blog!) |
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Deb |
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January 28, 2008 at 10:20am |
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| Absolutely a magnificent blog, Mike! It took me a long time to learn that God didn't want me to hang on to my sins, that he wanted me to forgive myself. What an amazing God we have! |
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| Yes Deb!!! (Thanks for sharing the JOY with me!) |
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| Ain't love grand ! seriously...........................(grand blog) :) |
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| Thank you too Paul! Yes the love is grand -- why do we let puny insignificant things like our own shortcomings draw us away from experiencing that love??? Satan is far more successful than he ought to be! |
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Rosie, I can't agree more.. I thought that I couldn't love a child more than I loved my own and then she blessed me with four very precious gifts from God.
Mike,
How am I, how are any of us, so privileged to be the recipients of such a breathe taking love?
This is truly where my awe comes in for our Father. HOW ARE WE PRIVILEDGED when he gave his only Son for OUR SINS??? We can only experience the human love that we have for our family and friends here on earth, in this time. But HIS LOVE can no way compare to ours. It is a GAZILLION(lol) times stronger, can you imagine?? My heart overflows with love for my earthly friends and family and can you just imagine what it will be like when we go home to our Father?? I can't imagine anything stronger than what I feel now. I want that feeling, the warmth, comfort, joy from my Father. Breath taking is just the tip of the iceberg!!!! |
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Rosie |
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January 28, 2008 at 12:38pm |
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| Mike i hope you were not thinking what i think you were thinking that would just be wrong and scary...."they will marry and have little ones" i mean they will marry other people you know someone you haven't met yet or maybe you have who really knows until it's time....now you have me all flustered and can't think straight....lol Any way you will love having grandkids they are wonderful...... |
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Joey |
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January 28, 2008 at 2:13pm |
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| Amen, Mike |
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| yep. i loved reading this! God truly is the best source of love ( dare I say only??) and its amazing what hes done for me (and all of us!) |
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Shells Out, great to hear from you!! Yep, God's love defies all rational explanation!
Sorry to fluster you Rosie. No I didn't think you were implying that my kids would marry each other - lol!! I'm just not ready to imagine them married at all!!! |
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| Wow Marcella, you've got 9 grandkids? Awesome! I'll bet your Christmases are fun! |
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| I don't have anything cute or edyfying to say but that choked me up a bit my friend. |
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Rosie |
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January 29, 2008 at 11:37am |
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| I'm glad we're cool on that Mike......Ah they do grow up way to fast...That is for sure....Seems like yesterday my first was born and in just 4 months he'll be 32....And his first will be 12....I'm really starting to feel old right about now...I think i need a nap..... |
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Rosie
You are too funny.. My one and only is 35 and her oldest is 14... There are three after that and you think you feel old. But we are sooooo blessed. Just think how many children our Father has and is asking for more????
That includes you - Mike |
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| woohoo! thanks for the reminder Mary!! |
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| AWESOME AS ALWAYS your blogs are the best thank you forever |
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Gene |
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January 29, 2008 at 5:48pm |
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All I know is that if reincarnation were actually to be true. . . I'd want to come back as one of Mike's kids.
Lavished is a great way to live - and be blessed. Thanks for sharing, Mike. It's hard some times to think about that in the middle of everyday living. |
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Gene - regarding "think(ing) about that in the middle of everyday living", yeah I know. So many distractions. As for the other thing you said, I would wonder what it's like to have you as one of my kids. Would you still have the grey highlights in your hair? That would be pretty weird.
Marcella, I know about the cake in the rug thingy. We had about 15 kids of varying ages running around here at Christmas - it stresses me out!
Diana, thank you for reading, it blesses me more than you'll ever know to hear that you enjoy reading these. |
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Sue |
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January 31, 2008 at 7:48am |
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| Wasn't that first look at your first child a glimpse of His love? I can't even imagine a Father loving us so much that He willing gave His First and Only Son. Baffles the mind! |
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Ragland |
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February 05, 2008 at 6:07pm |
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If we have to have a scale to measure God's Love for me, I would use this one as King David said in the Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. May God pour lavishly His everlasting Love on all of US Ragland |
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Cheryl |
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February 05, 2008 at 6:14pm |
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you know gray 'highlights' are hereditary! Just saw the blog(school!!!~way too busy now), another great one Mike~I needed this pick me up, I am a single parent and doing it ALL. Thanks brother! |
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Great comment Ragland - that's one huge measure! Cheryl, I'll pray God strengthens you supernaturally - man, that can be a tough way to live.
Sue, your comment reminds me of why so many fathers cry at the birth of their first (sometimes all) children. They are unexpectedly smitten by the new little ones, perhaps a tiny recognition of God's love for them. |
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